The Florida Panthers are playing with house money

Steven Ellis
Steven Ellis
The Florida Panthers are playing with house money
Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

TORONTO, Ont. – “You got a team coming in riding high from a Game 7. When you look at it, historically speaking, these games tend to favor those teams.”

Toronto Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe couldn’t have said it any better. It was like a prophecy. But one that didn’t end in a sense of serenity for his own club. And after starting the game with an electric force, and seemingly bringing it to Florida’s top guns all night long, the Leafs find themselves trailing 1-0 to a Florida Panthers team that needed overtime of Game 7 to beat the big, bad Boston Bruins.

You could argue that the Leafs were the better team in Game 1. But the Panthers took advantage of Toronto’s mistakes, something that has seemingly been a part of Florida’s identity. They make you pay.

That mostly comes down to work ethic, and the Panthers have that in spades. After sitting way out of a playoff spot midway through the season, they were forced to play must-win hockey for the final few months. They barely squeezed into the first Wildcard spot, qualifying in on the final week of play.

Florida had to fight against the odds to earn the opportunity to play against the team with the best record in NHL history. And then they slayed the ultimate beast, erasing a 3-1 series lead.

They entered the playoffs with more questions than answers: namely, who the No. 1 goaltender would be. Alex Lyon, the team’s third-stringer to start the season, played hot enough to earn the starter’s gig for the first three games. Coach Paul Maurice elected to use Sergei Bobrovsky for the next four games, and he won three of them. He was the difference-maker, as he was again on Tuesday night against the Leafs. There was also the question of which playoff Matthew Tkachuk the team was going to get. Seven games in, and he has already surpassed anything he accomplished with the Calgary Flames and now leads the playoffs in points.

Simply put: Florida’s top players are playing like top players every night.

The Panthers have now won four straight. Nothing seems to faze this group. After the embarrassing loss to Tampa Bay a year ago, they’ve got a different attitude this time around. They took it to the Bruins, a deep team that will run you down physically. And now they’re looking good against a Toronto team that can beat opponents with pure skill.

“We went from such an extreme series in terms of physicality. I would say (Tuesday) was under-physical for what we’re used to,” said Panthers coach Paul Maurice. “We kind of got a little bit away from what we’re good at and they got closer to what they’re really, really good at. And that’ll be the battle of the series.”

Tkachuk said the team’s prize for beating the best team in the league is going up against another heavyweight. There’s no room to relax, but nothing is rattling this group.

“There is a lot of talent, personnel-wise, top to bottom on both teams,” said defenseman Brandon Montour. “We followed the Toronto and Tampa series, they played well, brought it to Tampa and got through that… these guys have a ton of skill. And they’ve shown it.

“You’ve got guys like (Carter Verhaeghe) in front of the net, good personnel screening that goalie,” Montour added. “We want to keep going, finding lanes and keep putting the puck behind the goalie.”

The Panthers have played far from perfect hockey over the last little bit. They were the 15th-best team in the regular season after March 1. It seemed like nobody wanted one of those Wildcard spots. And then after they made it in, Florida was pushed to the brink of elimination after just the fourth game. But Florida’s ability to get themselves out of trouble has been clutch, and it’s a level of adversity Boston, and now Toronto, hasn’t had to face this season.

“We’re playing confident right now,” said forward Sam Bennett.

Momentum can go a long way in a difficult playoff series. And after barely even getting to this point, the Panthers have nothing to lose. They’re playing with house money, moving from one giant to another. Beating the Bruins was an incredible achievement on its own, but it will only get more complicated from here.

Toronto’s running on the same adrenaline. They finally won their first playoff series since 2004, before any player from the 2023 NHL Draft was even born. Anything they accomplish at this point is gravy. But for the Panthers, nobody expects them to win. And that’s precisely how they’ll make you pay.

“One team will feed the other,” Maurice said. “The team that brings the least amount of food to the game wins.”

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